Lover Dearest [3]

2.) Big News

“Elle!” I screeched, running into her arms.

She dropped her bags and we squeezed each other in a death grip. It’d been nine months since I’ve seen Elle, another one of my close friends, and she was just now getting back from New York with Isaac, who was beside us and being greeted by Kale, Brendon, Jarrod, Jackson, Ryder, and Tommy.

“Hey, don’t hog my girlfriend!” Holly snapped playfully, jokingly pushing me away from our country friend to get her own tight hug.

“Paws off, Holly. She’s mine.” Isaac called with a small smirk on his tanned face before returning to his conversation with his friends.

“Oh, that’s what you think.” Holly said with a wink to Elle as Andy came into the room.

“Guys, dinner is ready, into the dining room.” She said, but it wasn’t a God-given demand like her orders have been for the last few months, it was a friendly gesture, and because there was food involved with this gesture, I went along with it and so did everyone else. I was starved.

Elle and Isaac piled their bags beside the West’s couch since we didn’t let them go home before coming over here- we’d missed them too much. However, I’m sure most of their luggage was still packed into Elle’s parents car, since they picked the couple up from the airport.

Once we were all seated, I was sitting between Holly and Jarrod with Jackson across from me, but Jenna wasn’t here, which was weird. Jenna, Jackson’s girlfriend, usually came to group gatherings like this. Jenna was a nice girl, and surprisingly quiet for a world famous actress. She was also modest, which was something that I really liked about her. And the fact that Jackson can relate to her so much- being a celebrity and all- those two are so cute together.

“Where’s Jenna?” Holly asked her brother, voicing my curiosity.

He looked up from his phone to look at his sister with a small shrug. “Don’t know.” Was all he said.

Nobody questioned it, because he didn’t seem to be in the mood to be questioned. Maybe they were having a fight or something, because couples do that. They do have fights about what their publicists want and what they need to do to succeed in their careers and a bunch of celebrity drama like that. For instance, Jenna’s manager was trying to get her to have a fake relationship with the male lead of her upcoming movie, but Jackson said that he wouldn’t be okay with that and they fought until Jenna gave in. Just silly things like that is all they fight about, and it’s not even a lot, just sometimes. But right now, I could tell was one of those times.

“So, what’s the news?” Kale asked his blonde sister curiously as we were munching down on our appetizer salads. The Wests, including Kale, Ryder, and Andy all lived next door to Jackson, and since me and Holly are rooming with Jackson for the summer, we live next door to them, too. That’s convenient for Holly, of course, because her boyfriend is literally a minute walk away, and they go to the same college- lucky kids. It’s also very convenient for me, and not just because Andy is one of my best friends, but because of Ryder West, Hollywood teenage heart throb- like Jackson. Sure, when I was in high school, I was obsessively in love with the kid. You think I’m kidding? Two of my walls were wallpapered with posters of him. Just him and his abs. It’s what I looked forward to every day. And just because I’ve known the guy for two years doesn’t mean I’m not secretly pleased to be looking at his face all the time. What can I say? I’m still a fangirl at heart.

“Can’t you be patient?” Andy hissed at her little brother, snapping me out of my weird daze.

I let out a small, hopefully silent, snicker- didn’t he know better than to question the almighty Andy? Poor Kale.